


Family Is Power

by dragonVengeance12



Category: Saving Hope (TV)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:00:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25643197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonVengeance12/pseuds/dragonVengeance12
Summary: Joel has a secret that no one at Hope Zion knows about, but when an injured patient is brought to the ER, that secret finally comes to the light.
Kudos: 8





	Family Is Power

Dr Joel Goran was walking through the hospital doors of the ER when he heard his name being called. He turned his head in the direction of the voice to see Zach standing there holding a patient file in his hands.

“Miller,” he greeted. “What’ve you got for me?”

“15-year-old girl, gunshot wound to the lower left thigh. The paramedic team are en route from the public library. They should be here in a minute.” As if on cue, they heard sirens coming from outside the doors. “Or right now.”

He and Joel ran to hold the doors open as the paramedics rushed in, pushing a stretcher in front of them. As they passed, Joel felt the blood in his body turn icy cold as he looked down at the girl who they were supposed to be saving. His heart skipped a beat and for a moment he forgot how to breathe as he stood frozen in the doorway. He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Zach yell his name again.

“Joel, come on!” Zach yelled urgently. He was concerned by the look on his friend’s face but pushed it down. He would question him later. Right now, they had more pressing matters to attend to.

“What’ve we got,” he demanded as he reached the bed where they had laid the unconscious girl on. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dr Goran come up beside him.

“Heart rate is 140,” Jackson informed them. “BP is 80 over 60 and dropping.”

“She was unconscious when we got there but witnesses say she was on the ladder when she got shot. She fell backwards and landed on her leg badly. The windows were also blown in on impact and glass shards flew everywhere.”

Dr Miller went to her side. “This girl’s got multiple lacerations on her arms and legs, my guess from the breaking glass.” He flipped over the blanket that was wrapped around her leg keeping the blood flow and his eyes widened. “Woah, her leg is seriously messed up.”

“Ok, um, we need to get this bullet out fast. Give her a litre of saline and, uh, we need an x-ray on her leg,” Dr Goran stammered. “And, um, page Dr Harris.” He started feeling around the girl’s injured leg and didn’t notice the look that Jackson and Zach shared.

“Are you alright man?” Jackson asked worriedly.

“I’ll be alright when she’s conscious and able to walk,” Joel said irritatedly. He knew he was being a bit rude, but he didn’t particularly care at the moment.

Dr Harris came up behind them and looked over the younger doctor’s shoulder at their patient just as blood started gushing out of her leg. “Okay, we need to get her to the OR stat. What’s her name?”

“She was unconscious at the scene. Witnesses said she was alone. We don’t know-”

“Amelia,” Joel interrupted the male medic. “Her name is Amelia.”

“How did you know that?” Charlie asked him suspiciously. Usually, he was the one spilling odd information, and while it was nice not to have everyone looking at you like you were crazy, it was weird being on this side of the table for once.

Joel ignored the question and continued checking the girl - Amelia - over, not wanting to miss anything. 

“OR’s ready when you are, doctor,” one of the ER nurses told them and Joel nodded.

“Okay, let’s move her,” he said, making the others nod. Jackson got behind the bed while Joel and Charlie positioned themselves on either side, and they pushed her down to OR. 

“You want to tell us how you knew her name now?” Charlie asked as they got into an elevator to go down. Jackson was looking at Joel with curiosity, obviously wanting to know the same thing.

Joel sighed. “She’s my daughter.”

The elevator was silent for a moment as the orthopaedic surgeon and the ICU nurse processed that information. It wasn’t like they didn’t believe him, they could see the worry lines forming on his forehead and the obvious concern reflecting in his eyes every time he looked at Amelia. It was just hard picturing him as a father and, what with the stressful situations and long hours that come with being a surgeon, they couldn’t help but wonder when he would’ve had time to have a kid.

The silence was broken as the elevator doors opened up to their floor and they wheeled her outside of the operating room where Dana, Alex, and Reycraft were waiting. 

“What happened?” Alex asked, looking at the girl worriedly.

“There was a shooting at the public library and Amelia got shot in the lower left leg. She also has multiple cuts from a breaking window,” Charlie explained.

“Is there anyone we can call?” Dana asked. “Her parents, maybe?”

“She’s my daughter,” Joel said. “Her mother… passed away shortly after she was born.”

“Oh,” Dana said. She was shocked at the news but there was no time to act on it. She would deal with it later. “My condolences.”

“Poor girl,” Alex examined, shaking her head. “Shooting at a library? Who would do that?”

“Did the police end up catching the guy? The shooter?,” Reycraft clarified.

“No,” Jackson answered. “Dude took off as soon as he was out of ammo.”

Charlie looked between Amelia and Joel, finally seeing the similarities in their appearances. He suddenly heard a small voice coming from his side and turned his head to see a teenage girl staring straight ahead, trying not to cry. For a moment, Charlie thought she was looking at her prone body laying on the operating table but instead followed her gaze to the young man who had just finished scrubbing in.

“ _Dad’s getting really worried… they need to stop talking about this,_ ” Amelia said sadly. She looked up at Charlie with familiar wide, dark brown eyes, the same colour as her father’s.

“Hey, guys. Maybe we shouldn’t talk about this right now,” Charlie called to the small group of doctors, making a subtle jerk of his head in Joel’s direction. Thankfully, said surgeon didn’t see as he was too busy preparing himself for the operation on his daughter, but the others did and nodded their understanding.

“I finished with the x-rays,” Victor called out and passed the scans to Dr Goran. He looked over the pictures and sighed. Her leg was broken in three different places and, as expected, there was a bullet lodged uncomfortably close to her knee. 

He relayed the information to the other surgeons quickly as they started to operate. “She’s gonna hate me when she wakes up,” Joel said with a small smile on his face. “She’s not going to be walking anytime soon and she hates being restricted to her bed.”

“At least she’ll be okay,” Alex assured him, giving him her most understanding smile, and he nodded in response.

“Give her some anaesthesia,” he ordered, looking down at his daughter. “Let’s get this bullet out and fix that leg.”

Up on the observation deck, Charlie was watching the operation with Amelia’s spirit by his side. 

“ _What happened to me?_ ” Amelia asked, staring at her body below. “ _I remember being shot, but then that’s it._ ”

“Well, when you were shot, you fell from high up and broke your leg,” Charlie explained to her. “They’re setting it now, but you’ll probably have to be in a wheelchair for a few weeks.”

Amelia nodded slowly and her gaze transferred from her body to her dad. “ _It’s only me and him at home. He’s so busy taking care of others, sometimes he forgets to take care of himself. That’s where I come in._ ” She looked up at Charlie, worrying her bottom lip. “ _Who’s going to take care of him if I don’t wake up?_ ”

“Don’t worry, your Dad’s a great surgeon,” the older man assured her. Even though he didn’t particularly like the guy, he couldn’t deny the truth. “He’ll have you fixed and out of there in no time.”

Amelia nodded but didn’t say anything more.

Down in the OR, they were just finishing and were now beginning to bandage her up. Joel looked down at Amelia’s face and he smiled softly. She looked so peaceful at that moment, and he leaned down and kissed her forehead. 

Alex saw this and smiled. “Why don’t you let me do this?” she said, catching Joel’s attention. He opened his mouth to protest but she cut him off with a shake of her head. “No, it’s fine. You go get changed and be there when your daughter wakes up.”

“Thank you,” he said earnestly before swiftly leaving the operating room. He went to the back locker room to change into his street clothes before heading to Amelia’s room. He met up with Charlie on the way and the two settled into a comfortable silence.

“So,” Charlie said, “I didn’t know you have a daughter.”

“Yeah, I had Mia in med school. My parents offered to take care of her while I was studying and then also during my residency. Then my mother passed from a heart attack and my father took on his project, so Amelia moved back in with me. Since then, it’s just been me and her, taking everything one step at a time.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell us about her?”

Joel shrugged. “It just never came up. But don’t think just because I don’t talk about her that I don’t love her any less. Mia is my world, my everything. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

They reached the door to Amelia’s room and Joel pushed it wider from its ajar position to see Dr Reid sitting by the bed of a still asleep teenage girl. She looked up when the two men entered and smiled.

“She hasn’t woken up yet,” Alex said to Joel while walking to her fiancé and kissing him. Joel nodded his thanks and went to the seat vacated by Alex.

“Mia,” he murmured, gently rubbing her shoulder to rouse her awake. “Can you wake up for me, sweetie?”

Amelia’s eyelids fluttered and they opened to be met with the sight of her father leaning over her bed. “Dad?” She tried to sit up but groaned as a pain shot up her left leg. “Ugh, what happened?”

“Careful there, sweetheart. Lie back and relax.” He immediately went to her aid when she cried out and was now gently pushing her shoulders back. “What do you remember?”

“I, uh, I was in the library working on a project from school and I went to get a book on one of the high shelves when I heard gunshots and screaming coming from behind me. Some stupid kid was waving the gun around and he was just shooting. I was gonna turn around when I felt a pain in my leg. I fell back and then that’s it. I blacked out after that.”

“You fractured your leg when you hit the ground,” Alex told her. Joel startled at the sound of her voice, forgetting she and Harris were still in the room. “We were able to set it during the operation, but you won’t be able to walk on that leg anytime soon.”

“Mia, these are Doctors Alex Reid and Charlie Harris,” Joel introduced them to her.

“It’s nice to meet you, Amelia,” Charlie greeted.

“Please, call me Mia,” the girl said, smiling up at the two. “The only people who still call me Amelia are my teachers and dad.” She then gave them a serious look. “So, how long until my leg heals up?”

“We’re looking at a three month recovery period,” Alex said and immediately Mia’s smile dropped.

“But what about the school trip to Washington next week? And the road trip my friends and I were planning this summer?” By the tone of her voice, she was obviously distressed about her plans being interrupted.

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” Joel said soothingly. “I know how much you were looking forward to those trips. I’ll make it up to you, promise. As soon as you’re feeling better, we can do whatever you want… within reason,” he quickly added. He knew his daughter, and when you say whatever she wants, she will take it literally… and she could be a bit boisterous.

“Fine,” she relented, though her pout didn’t leave her face. She then got an idea and smiled up at her father sweetly. “But you can start making it up to me right now, ‘cause I’m starving. I’m thinking a burger, fries, and a large chocolate shake.”

Joel smiled and shook his head. “And I’m thinking soup with crackers and Jello from downstairs. But nice try.”

“Do you think I’ll be able to go home soon?”

“We’d like to keep you overnight for observation,” Alex said.

“I’ll see about getting you discharged tomorrow morning,” Joel added, nodding. “Then you’ll be stuck with your boring, old dad for three months.”

“That’s not true,” Mia protested, smiling. “You’re not that old.”

Her dad’s eyebrows raised as she giggled. In the background, Alex and Charlie were grinning at the display of the relationship between father and daughter. “So, I’m boring? Okay, well, for that comment I’m getting the green Jello instead of the red.”

“But dad,” Mia drawled. “You know I don’t like the green flavour.”

“Then it’s a good thing it’s my favourite,” Joel shrugged. He bent down to kiss his daughter on the forehead. “I’ll be right back, sweetheart. Why don’t you rest a bit?”

“Alright.” Just as he reached the door Mia called out to him. “And dad?” He turned back to look at her and she gave him the biggest smile she could muster. “I love you.”

Joel smiled and looked at his little girl lovingly. “I love you too, Mia.”


End file.
